We're looking to choose some feather shuttles for the club to use, and would really appreciate some help. After a little bit of hunting, I've arrived at the following shortlist, based on price (£10-13ish after bulk discount) and availability here in the UK. Which of these would you recommend, or say represent the best value? Durability is probably the main thing we're looking for, although flight quality is obviously a factor aswell. Do you know of any other cheap UK sellers? Thanks in advance
to be honest mate www.advancedrackets.com or ring ycsports they can match or beat any uk authorised yonex dealers competitors prices
It doesn't yet - this will be for a new club starting in the new year. We're estimating around 20-25 members to start, and it'll be for 2-3hrs per week. It's been suggested to allow for about 1.5 shuttles per person per night. Obviously it depends on the shuttle etc, but how realistic does that sound? Taking into account this, and what we deemed an acceptable membership fee, we came out with £10-13 a dozen as a reasonable figure. I know cheaper shuttles get destroyed really quickly and can end up costing more in the long run, so we're really looking for the shuttles which provide the best long-term value, with decent performance (durability is the main issue though). As far as bulk buying goes, we're also not sure about the number we'll be able to store in suitable conditions yet. The other thing we're considering, is getting a few plastic shuttles as well. How does the average beginner feel about using them instead of feathers? Obviously nobody would be made to use them, but if beginners would use them voluntarily it would help with costs quite a lot - especially as they use a disproportionally large number of shuttles due to hitting the feathers not the cork. Of course, they're paying for feathers, so it's not unreasonable for them to want to play with feathers...
Yonex's aerosensa 10 is decent enough without breaking the bank. Durability is pretty good as typically we would use about 1 shuttle for every game if not every other game as long as we're not dealing with any "bird-killers" by which I mean people who often miss-hit shots.
Really? I've heard very mixed reviews - Dinkalot wasn't very complimentary about them in his shuttle review/comparison, which put me off a bit. Plus they're Yonex, which to me is actually a bit of a negative (because I'd never feel I'm getting value for money with them). Still, I'll take your suggestion into consideration, so thanks.
The club I play at/for is split in to 3 sections. Advanced (people who the coaches use/are considering to use for matches), intermediate (reasonably skilled players and beginners. The beginners use plastic shuttles, whilst everyone else uses feathers. However, at alot of clubs I have played at, only plastic shuttles are used. I hate plastic shuttles, but I don't think beginners would care that much. I may be wrong, but beginners aren't usually very serious about the game.
Do you charge different rates for people who use feathers/plastic? I've heard of clubs where they do that, and it seems to me that it would be totally unmanageable, and more importantly, would create the wrong atmosphere - we're trying to avoid the kind of cliqueyness you get in a lot of clubs. Personally, I actually *preferred* plastics as a beginner. There is a certain kind of beginner though, who can hardly play, but still likes to show up with all the most expensive yonex gear - they're the kind of people who would object to plastic shuttles just because they've heard they're no good.
general overview my opinion of all shuttlecocks i have used RSL RSL Tourney Classic - Maximum Durability and Flight with great accuracy, precision in speed - Used in many major international competitions - Excellent Feel Speed - 73-81 RATING - price 8/10 quality 9/10 RSL Tourney No.1 - Great Durabilyty and Flight with good accuracy, precision in speed - Used in Most of the major competitions - Great Feel Speed -73-81 Rating - Price 7/10 Quality 8.5/10 RSL Tourney No.2~3 - Good Durability - Accurate Flight, Speed - Used in Top Clubs, some school competitions - Good Feel Speed - 73-81 Rating - Price 6/10 Quality 7.5/10 RSL Tourney No.4~8 - Economically Priced - Ideal for Practice and Training - Tourney No.8 = Suitable for Beginners Speed - Unrated. Rating - Price 4~5/10 Quality 4~6/10 RSL Silver Feather - Breaks Way Too easily - Yet Popular, Good Looking - Flight with Accurate Speed Speed - 73-81 Rating - Price 8/10 Quality 6/10 RSL Official - Good Durabilty - Economically Priced - Accurate Speed - Great Choice for both competition and training Speed - 73-81 Rating - Price 7/10 Quality 8.5/10 RSL Standard - Durability and Accurate Speed - Economically Priced - Great Choice for Training Speed - 73-81 Rating - Price 6.5/10 Quality 7.5/10 RSL First Step - Good Durability - Not very Accurate Flight yet Ok. - Great Choice for Beginners Training Rating - Price 5/10 Quality 6/10 Yonex Aero 10 - Durability and Accurate Speed - Economically Priced - Great Choice for Training Speed - 76-79 Rating - Price 6.5/10 Quality 7.5/10 Aero 20 - Good Durabilty - Affordable Price - Accurate Speed - Great Choice for hard training, school training Speed - 76-79 Rating - Price 7/10 Quality 8/10 Aero 30&40 - Great Durabilty - Very Accurate Speed and Flight - Great choice for hard training, competitions Speed - 76-79 Rating - Price 8.5/10 Quality 8.5~9/10 Aero 50 - Excellent Durability - Excellent and Perfect Flight and Speed - Great Choice for Competitions - Expensive yet perfect Speed - 76-79 Rating - Price 9.8/10 Quality 9.8/10 Mavis 370 (Nylon) - Perfect Durability - Good Flight and Speed - Great Choice for Outdoors Training and Hard Training Speed - 78~80 Rating - Price 8/10 Quality 8.5/10 Mavis 500 (Nylon) - Perfect Durability - Great Flight and Speed - Great Choice for Outdoors Training and Hard Training - Some used in competitions - 95% alike Feather Shuttlecocks Speed - 78~80 Rating - Price 8.5/10 Quality 9/10 Aeroplane Black Label - Excellent Durability - Excellent and Perfect Flight and Speed - Great Choice for Competitions - Expensive yet perfect Speed - 76-79 Rating - Price 9.8/10 Quality 9.8/10 Red Label - Great Durabilty - Very Accurate Speed and Flight - Great choice for hard training, competitions Speed - 76-79 Rating - Price 8.5/10 Quality 8.5~9/10 Green Label - Good Durabilty - Good Price - Accurate Speed - Great Choice for hard training, school training Speed - 76-79 Rating - Price 7/10 Quality 8/10 White Label - Durability and Accurate Speed - Affordable Price - Great Choice for Training Speed - 73-81 Rating - Price 6.5/10 Quality 7.5/10 Tronex Tronex Gold - Great Durability - Great and Great Flight and Speed Speed - 75-78 Rating - Price 9/10 Quality 9/10 Tronex Yellow - Good Durability - Great Flight, Accurate Speed - Used in School Competitions Speed - 75-78 Rating - Price 8/10 Quality 8/5/10 OVERALL SUPERIOR GRADE Yonex AS50 RSL Tourney Classic RSL Tourney No1 Tronex Gold Aeroplane Black Label PROFESSIONAL GRADE Yonex AS30 Yonex AS40 Yonex Mavis 500 (Nylon) RSL Official RSL Tourney No2 RSL Silver Feather Aeroplane Red Label Tronex Yellow TRAINING GRADE Yonex AS20 Yonex Mavis 370 (Nylon) RSL Standard RSL Tourney No3 RSL Tourney No4 Aeroplane Green Label STANDARD GRADE Yonex AS10 RSL Tourney No5 RSL Tourney No6 Aeroplane White Label BEGINNER GRADE RSL Tourney No7 RSL Tourney No8 RSL First Step that took a long time but its a general overview of all the shuttlecocks i have used.
In my honest opinion, as someone who plays alot wilson shuttles are bad, but as10 are worse as 20 however is a good medium, as30 is a great shuttle, rsl i would stay clear. however yonex prices all went up last week
You have put Yehlex championship grade down on the shortlist. As far as i know imo they are brilliant shuttles. However if buying in Bulk it might be cheaper then central sports by directly ordering from the Yehlex website http://www.yehlex.co.uk/productdetail.aspx?prodid=352&prodgroupid=6
thanks guys, especially eric - that must have taken a while. Swingbadabada: I wasn't really giving Yehlex a *lot* of consideration. I don't consider them a particularly reputable brand, and for the same sort of money we could get the GT1 / Tourney #1 (which I'd been given the impression was one of the best shuttles until limbo said otherwise). I don't know... Sounds like Yonex might have just priced themselves out too.
IMO the quality of all yehlex products is good they also own Apacs etc so they are a good choice. An other idea would be to try say the top 3/4 on your list and decide which ones are best value for money and which ones you feel are the best then buy them in bulk.
re: Yehlex/APACS: Making good rackets is one thing, but it doesn't mean their shuttles are gonna be good too (doesn't mean they won't be either though). That was pretty much the conclusion I came to aswell
On your list I would say take of victor champion gold. I found they are not very durable and , break very easily.
I would recommend RSL Classic Tourney. RSL No.1 Tourney is not very good recently. All the brands are facing the same problem: price up, quality down. You better stay with big brands like RSL Victor Yonex Areoplane. Smaller brands' quality are easier to change.
umm in my experience, it doesnt matter what shuttle is brought in a badminton club tries a different style 3 or 4 times at the start of the season and always goes back to yonex